All around us are those who are not just willing, but thrill at the thought of leading us: they are golf club, ball and clothing manufacturers. They are also physical trainers, sports psychologists, hypnotists and statisticians. They are friends who mean well.

It could be that calendar 2023 will see no PGA Tour action in Houston. The wait will probably be a win for local fans, though, come spring 2024.

So, was 1860 golf’s craziest year? 1913? 1950? 1968? 2001? Or, was in fact 2022 the winner? The answer is no, no, no, no and no. The craziest year in golf is — now and always — the next year that you and I, and millions of others around the world, take on a task which can never be completed: mastering the game.

Setting goals for my golf game in 2023 is, I think, a worthy pursuit — not things that I hope to do but rather a few things that I plan to do. Hope, as my niece constantly reminds anyone who is in earshot, is not a plan. Perhaps you will join me.

Ball High Lady Tors Shaifer Goalen, Kayleigh Lorefice and Liberty Cox took on a field of 64 other golfers as participants in medalist-only action last week as Bay Oaks Country Club hosted the Clear Creek Girls Varsity Winter Classic.

On Nov. 30, the girls varsity team squeezed between first place Clear Creek (72) and third place North Shore at the Pasadena Memorial Winter Scramble with a fine 76.

The annual Moody Gardens Kidsmas Golf Tournament is just around the corner; Santa surely will also be peeking to see not only who’s naughty or nice, but who hooks and who slices.

Here are some helpful (maybe) hints about what to get your favorite golfer.

Ball High coach Mike Kleinecke is not only dedicated to continued development of the Tor golf teams, he understands the value of shining a light on the hard work — and payoff — of each and every player.

The first LIV season is over, and virtually everyone involved in any capacity made mad money — except for its financial backers, who at least for the moment, are unfazed. The second season, comprised of 14 events, starts in February.

It seems that one of the officials, as did Mike Evans, went to Texas A&M; he was getting the Pro Bowler’s phone number to pass along to a golf pro so they could make plans for Evans to have golf lessons.

I know that as long as golfers have to play all the foul balls they hit, talking about both sports in the same conversation will remain fun.

At a recent celebrity pro-am pickleball tournament, the golfers reportedly struggled early on, then discovered that drives, lobs, slices and lots of backspin were part of this new sport and rallied for revenge later in the evening.

Twenty-four NFL and NBA alumni were part of a 33-team, 120-player field that made for a great day of golf and fundraising (about $40,000), and which set the stage for next May when the fifth annual tournament will likely be even larger.

Historians seem to be in agreement that in 1932, it was indeed a “golf cart” that was invented by Lyman Beecher. It was much like a rickshaw and was pulled by two caddies; and it was created for the most honorable of reasons: Beecher suffered from arthritis.

The U.S. team ultimately defeated the Internationals by a five-point margin. Yet, it never quite seemed like a romp.

Sunday, I was supposed to do two of my favorite things: play golf and help raise money for a good cause or project. The 4th Annual Galveston Professional Athletes Scholarship Golf Classic was being played at the Country Club, and I was to be part of a team.

Irishman Shane Lowry, who also declared himself “the happiest man in the world right now,” held off Rory McIlroy and the rest of a star-studded field that also included LIV players, some of whom he felt should not be in the field.

While golf conversation of late has spotlighted the adversarial relationship of the LIV and the PGA Tour, the International Golf Federation has, without much fanfare or sideshow, conducted the 32nd World Amateur Team Championship hosted by Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Breteche in Paris, France.